Camila Mendes Speaks Out About Being Roofied And Sexually Assaulted In College

“Riverdale” star Camila Mendes is bravely talking out for the primary time about being a sexual assault survivor.

Within the cowl story for the newest difficulty of Girls’s Well being journal, the 25-year-old actor, who skyrocketed to fame on the hit CW collection shortly after graduating from New York College, recalled a terrifying expertise throughout her freshman yr.

“I had a really, very unhealthy expertise,” Mendes instructed the outlet. “I used to be roofied by somebody who sexually assaulted me.”

The ordeal led her to tattoo the phrases “to construct a house” on her decrease ribcage, which she says serves as reminder to “strengthen each her sense of self and the surroundings round her,” in accordance with the journal.

Mendes didn’t reveal any extra particulars in regards to the incident however defined that she pledged to hunt out areas and folks that made her really feel the most secure and most comfy after the assault.

“I’ve at all times, at all times needed nothing greater than stability,” Mendes continued, noting that she had moved 12 instances earlier than the age of 18 because of her dad and mom’ divorce and her dad’s profession.

“Shifting round all through my entire childhood was a bit traumatic. You’re continually saying goodbye to individuals, and also you’re continually being eliminated out of your id,” she added. “If you begin to really feel such as you’re connecting with a bunch of individuals, an surroundings, and a house — a bodily dwelling — it may be destabilizing whenever you’re uprooted and brought someplace else.”

Mendes’ co-star Lili Reinhart, who performs Betty Cooper on the teenager collection, shared her personal story of sexual harassment in 2017 through the early days of the #MeToo motion.

In an emotional Tumblr publish, Reinhart recalled feeling “fully violated” as a teen when a former co-worker within the leisure trade tried to pressure himself on her.

“I’m coming ahead about my very own expertise to additional specific how widespread these assaults are on this trade and the way vital it’s that we take motion to combat in opposition to it,” Reinhart wrote on the time, likening the expertise to a “horror film.”

For Mendes, studying how you can deal with what she will do “bodily for myself” has been integral to her happiness, regardless that it hasn’t at all times been simple given her private struggles with bulimia, she mentioned.

As a job mannequin to the hundreds of thousands of younger “Riverdale” followers who tune into the twisty melodrama each week, she has persistently been outspoken about points that matter, together with her battle with an consuming dysfunction.

“I’ve solely just lately gotten higher,” Mendes instructed the journal, explaining how vital a therapist and nutritionist have been to her restoration. “I wanted professionals I trusted to inform me issues that I didn’t know.”

The actor beforehand defined that uncomfortable wardrobe fittings for “Riverdale” prompted her to hunt remedy.